Scope and Contents
The Percy Marks Papers contain manuscripts, correspondence, and personal papers documenting aspects of the life and career of the author of The Plastic Age. The material spans the years 1900 to 1961, with the bulk falling between 1920 and 1950.
The papers are housed in eight boxes and are divided into three series. The bulk of the collection consists of typewritten manuscripts, some original and some carbon copies, of Percy Marks's novels and short stories. Associated with these manuscripts is a considerable amount of fan mail. In addition, there is general correspondence unrelated to literary works and a miscellaneous section of disparate personal papers.
Series I, Writings , is divided into two sections, Books and Shorter Works. Books, which comprises roughly three quarters of the entire collection, is composed primarily of material relating to Marks's novels, but also includes correspondence regarding one of the two classroom textbooks he wrote. Manuscripts for nine of his twenty books are included in the collection: And Points Beyond, Blair Marriman, The Days Are Fled, Full Flood, The Knave of Diamonds, No Steeper Wall, Shade of Sycamore, A Tree Grown Straight, and The Unwilling God. The collection has typed notes but no manuscript for Marks's first novel, The Plastic Age, published during the height of the Roaring Twenties. There are also sixteen folders of fan mail, which reveal the widely varying public reaction to this provocative work. The Beinecke Library owns inscribed first edition copies of many of Marks's works.
The second section, Shorter Works, consists mainly of short stories, but also includes essays, articles, and a book review. Of interest is his essay on Brown University, in which he extols the institution for its traditions and dedication to excellence. Marks was on the faculty of the English Department at Brown when he wrote The Plastic Age.
Within this series, material related to a specific literary work is grouped in the following order: notes, manuscripts, fan mail, reviews, and publicity, although not all types of material are included for every work. Some manuscripts contain penciled changes in the margins, but for the most part these typescripts are carbons of final copies sent to the publisher.
Series II, Correspondence , consists primarily of personal and professional letters written to Marks, with a few copies of replies. Of interest are letters from family members, personal and professional friends, publishers, critics, authors, and former professors. The oldest item in the series is a letter from Marks's mother, written while he was a student at the University of California. The correspondence of Paul R. Reynolds, Marks's publisher during the twenties, provides insight into the author's successes and failures during the first decade of his career. Isabel Paterson, critic for the New York Herald Tribune during the twenties, writes a letter challenging Marks's philosophy on education and culture. Literary correspondents include Carl Van Doren (1 letter), Upton Sinclair (2 letters), and H.L. Mencken (24 letters). The letters of Van Doren and Sinclair make reference to recent publications by Marks. The letters of Mencken, written for the most part while he was an editor at The Smart Set and The American Mercury, cover a twenty-three-year period and present some insightful comments on Marks's works. Until their deaths, Marks maintained correspondence with L. B. R. Briggs and Bliss Perry, two of his professors at Harvard.
Series III, Personal Papers, is divided into three sections. The first section, Biographical Material, contains numerous obituaries of Marks, as well as such disparate items as a poem, entitled "Susan Brown," written by Marks around the age of nine, his World War I draft card, and a diploma from the University of California, Berkeley. The second section, Photographs, contains one photograph each of Marks's mother and father, and eight of the author. The third section, Textbook, contains a copy of a cherished classroom textbook on English poetry used by Marks at Berkeley.
The papers are housed in eight boxes and are divided into three series. The bulk of the collection consists of typewritten manuscripts, some original and some carbon copies, of Percy Marks's novels and short stories. Associated with these manuscripts is a considerable amount of fan mail. In addition, there is general correspondence unrelated to literary works and a miscellaneous section of disparate personal papers.
Series I, Writings , is divided into two sections, Books and Shorter Works. Books, which comprises roughly three quarters of the entire collection, is composed primarily of material relating to Marks's novels, but also includes correspondence regarding one of the two classroom textbooks he wrote. Manuscripts for nine of his twenty books are included in the collection: And Points Beyond, Blair Marriman, The Days Are Fled, Full Flood, The Knave of Diamonds, No Steeper Wall, Shade of Sycamore, A Tree Grown Straight, and The Unwilling God. The collection has typed notes but no manuscript for Marks's first novel, The Plastic Age, published during the height of the Roaring Twenties. There are also sixteen folders of fan mail, which reveal the widely varying public reaction to this provocative work. The Beinecke Library owns inscribed first edition copies of many of Marks's works.
The second section, Shorter Works, consists mainly of short stories, but also includes essays, articles, and a book review. Of interest is his essay on Brown University, in which he extols the institution for its traditions and dedication to excellence. Marks was on the faculty of the English Department at Brown when he wrote The Plastic Age.
Within this series, material related to a specific literary work is grouped in the following order: notes, manuscripts, fan mail, reviews, and publicity, although not all types of material are included for every work. Some manuscripts contain penciled changes in the margins, but for the most part these typescripts are carbons of final copies sent to the publisher.
Series II, Correspondence , consists primarily of personal and professional letters written to Marks, with a few copies of replies. Of interest are letters from family members, personal and professional friends, publishers, critics, authors, and former professors. The oldest item in the series is a letter from Marks's mother, written while he was a student at the University of California. The correspondence of Paul R. Reynolds, Marks's publisher during the twenties, provides insight into the author's successes and failures during the first decade of his career. Isabel Paterson, critic for the New York Herald Tribune during the twenties, writes a letter challenging Marks's philosophy on education and culture. Literary correspondents include Carl Van Doren (1 letter), Upton Sinclair (2 letters), and H.L. Mencken (24 letters). The letters of Van Doren and Sinclair make reference to recent publications by Marks. The letters of Mencken, written for the most part while he was an editor at The Smart Set and The American Mercury, cover a twenty-three-year period and present some insightful comments on Marks's works. Until their deaths, Marks maintained correspondence with L. B. R. Briggs and Bliss Perry, two of his professors at Harvard.
Series III, Personal Papers, is divided into three sections. The first section, Biographical Material, contains numerous obituaries of Marks, as well as such disparate items as a poem, entitled "Susan Brown," written by Marks around the age of nine, his World War I draft card, and a diploma from the University of California, Berkeley. The second section, Photographs, contains one photograph each of Marks's mother and father, and eight of the author. The third section, Textbook, contains a copy of a cherished classroom textbook on English poetry used by Marks at Berkeley.
Dates
- 1900 - 1961
- Majority of material found within 1920 - 1940
Creator
Language
English
Conditions Governing Access
The materials are open for research.
Restricted Fragile Papers in boxes 9 and 10 may only be consulted with permission of the appropriate curator. Preservation photocopies for reference use have been substituted in the main files.
Restricted Fragile Papers in boxes 9 and 10 may only be consulted with permission of the appropriate curator. Preservation photocopies for reference use have been substituted in the main files.
Conditions Governing Use
The Percy Marks Papers are the physical property of the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University. Literary rights, including copyright, belong to the authors or their legal heirs and assigns. For further information, consult the appropriate curator.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The Papers were donated to The Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library by the author's widow, Mrs. Bernard Barton, in November 1962.
November 2019 acquisition: gift of the Estate of Sally Jean Marks, 2018.
November 2019 acquisition: gift of the Estate of Sally Jean Marks, 2018.
Extent
3.75 Linear Feet (11 boxes)
Catalog Record
A record for this collection is available in Orbis, the Yale University Library catalog
Persistent URL
Overview
The Percy Marks Papers contain manuscripts, correspondence, and personal papers documenting aspects of the life and career of Percy Marks.
PERCY MARKS (1891-1956)
Percy Marks was born in Covelo, California, on September 9, 1891. He received a Bachelor of Letters degree from the University of California at Berkeley in 1912 and a Master of Arts degree from Harvard University in 1914. Over the next decade he served successively as supervisor of education at Tewksbury (Massachusetts) State Infirmary, and as instructor of English at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dartmouth College, and Brown University. In 1925 he gave up his teaching career in order to devote himself to writing and lecturing. Between 1925 and 1949 most of his major works were written. In the latter year he resumed teaching as instructor of English and literature at the University of Connecticut at Waterbury, a post he held until shortly before his death.
Marks wrote some twenty books, mostly novels, and contributed short stories and essays to several prominent American literary magazines. His major works include Martha, Lord of Himself, A Tree Grown Straight, And Points Beyond, The Days Are Fled, Between Two Autumns, Knave of Diamonds, Shade of Sycamore, Blair Marriman, The Craft of Writing, and his most famous novel, The Plastic Age.
During World War I, Marks served as second lieutenant in the U.S. Army. He was married to Margaret Ellen Gates in Gardena, California, on December 17, 1927; they had one daughter, Sally Jean. Percy Marks died in New Haven, Connecticut, on December 27, 1956.
For further biographical information, see the National Cyclopadeia of American Biography, Vol. 46, pp. 321-22, as well as folders 131-33 of this collection.
Marks wrote some twenty books, mostly novels, and contributed short stories and essays to several prominent American literary magazines. His major works include Martha, Lord of Himself, A Tree Grown Straight, And Points Beyond, The Days Are Fled, Between Two Autumns, Knave of Diamonds, Shade of Sycamore, Blair Marriman, The Craft of Writing, and his most famous novel, The Plastic Age.
During World War I, Marks served as second lieutenant in the U.S. Army. He was married to Margaret Ellen Gates in Gardena, California, on December 17, 1927; they had one daughter, Sally Jean. Percy Marks died in New Haven, Connecticut, on December 27, 1956.
For further biographical information, see the National Cyclopadeia of American Biography, Vol. 46, pp. 321-22, as well as folders 131-33 of this collection.
Creator
- Title
- Guide to the Percy Marks Papers
- Author
- by T. Michael Womack
- Date
- February 1987
- Language of description
- Finding aid written in English.
Revision Statements
- 2010-02-10: Transformed with yale.addEadidUrl.xsl. Adds @url with handle for finding aid. Overwrites @url if already present.
- 2007-08-13: beinecke.marks.xml converted for compliance with Yale EAD Best Practice Guidelines with brbl-migrate-01.xsl (mr2007-08-13).
- 2007-03-08: PUBLIC "-//Yale University::Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library//TEXT (US::CtYBR::::[PERCY MARKS PAPERS ])//EN" "marks.xml" converted from EAD 1.0 to 2002 by v1to02.xsl (sy2003-10-15).
Repository Details
Part of the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library Repository